As you may have heard, the Cusco region of Peru has been very seriously affected by heavy rains that has caused severe flooding. We have been in touch with our grower partner in the area, a co-operative called COCLA (whose coffee goes into the Machu Picchu range), to find out more about the effects that these disastrous weather conditions have had on their growers.
They have told us that the houses, bridges and the farms of a number of producers who lived on the banks of these rivers have been washed away and demolished. Tragically we have also been informed that three members of COCLA have died due to this disaster.
The President of the Cusco region has reported that there are a total of 16,000 hectares of destroyed crops, 25,000 families affected and more than 3,000 houses damaged by the rains. 11 -14 bridges have been washed away or are in danger of collapsing.
In Quillabamba, where the main Cocla facilities are, all the access roads and tracks were blocked. This means that people attempting to get from Quillabamba to Cusco (the nearest large town), had to walk long distances before being able to pick up any transport and then have to transfer many times to avoid the parts of the road that were blocked. Another consequence of this dire transport situation is that the costs of goods have gone up. Therefore everyone living in these areas is being affected, with people on the lowest incomes suffering the most.
When we were visiting this co-operative just last month, we went to visit a famous tourist attraction in Santa Theresa, “Baños Termales de Coclamayo” (Coclamayo Hot Springs). This alongside other tourist attractions such as the ruins of Machu Picchu was a major source of income for the local population, however the hot springs have now totally disappeared under the landslides.
Cafédirect is working closely with the co-operative to offer immediate assistance including funding for tools and food. We are also exploring what longer term assistance is needed to support the farmers who are affected by this disaster.
The funding for both the immediate and the short term assistance comes from the reinvestment of profits from our products and events like this demonstrate just how important it is for all companies to commit to going Fairtrade as a starting point, but to realise that its not the finishing line. It is important to not only pay a minimum price for the crops, but to have direct relationships with growers and to plough back profits to develop sustainable businesses and provide long term support. The effects of climate change make this all the more important and urgent. The consumer voice is highly influential in this campaign and you can make yourself heard by choosing purchases carefully and supporting those businesses that trade ethically.
Friday Fun – Who Is Your Perfect Tea Party Guest?
Friday Fun is here again!
As I’m sure you all know by now, Fairtrade Fortnight is kicking off on the 22nd February so we are encouraging you to turn over a new tea leaf and make the big swap to Cafédirect teas by organising your own Tea Party. To help you with this we have created kits full of everything you need to host the perfect Tea Party.
These fabulous Tea Party kits (picture below) are available online later today but the lucky winner of Friday Fun will receive a kit (and a few extra surprises) to kickstart Fairtrade Fortnight in style.
All you need to do is tell us who would be your ideal Tea Party guest and why…personally I’m thinking Elvis (entertainment), Mandela (inspiration) and my nan (great cake baker).
Cafédirect Tea Party Kits
The rules are simple:
Tell us who your ideal Tea Party guest is and why, post it to the comment box of this blog post.
You have until 5.30pm today to post your response.
The winner will be chosen and announced on Monday on our blog and will receive a Tea party kit.
Prizes can only be sent to a UK or Ireland postal address.
Good Luck!
Some of you maybe have seen the news headlines about landslides in the Cusco area of Peru recently. We work with farmers in the local area and we’re currently getting in touch with them to get an update from the ground. We will post any news when we receive it.
Friday Fun – caption the photo to win a Machu Picchu gift set!
Yes, its that time of the week again…Friday Fun!
Today we have a photo for you to caption below. Kevin brought Machu Picchu, his favourite coffee, with him on his trip to Peru when he met some of the farmers at COCLA who grow this 100% Fairtrade & organic coffee. He also saw the coffee growing around the Inca trail near the ancient site of Machu Picchu where the Incas lived in close harmony with nature.
We like to call this photo ‘Machu Picchu goes home’. If you can come up with a better caption you might win a prize!
Machu Picchu goes home
The rules are simple:
Think of a creative caption for this photo and post it to the comment box of this blog post.
You have until 5.30pm today to post your caption.
The winning caption will be chosen and announced on Monday on our blog.
The chosen caption will win a Machu Picchu gift set (of course!) along with some Divine Chocolate covered mangos for you to enjoy with your cuppa! ! (Prizes can only be sent to a UK or Ireland postal address.)
Update:
Some of you maybe have seen the news headlines about landslides in the Cusco area of Peru. We work with farmers in the local area whose coffee goes into our Machu Picchu products. We’re currently getting in touch with them to get an update from the ground and will post any news when we receive it.
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- RT @Oxfam: Good news... 3:21pm 08 Feb 10
- I am Cafédirect!... 8:17am 08 Feb 10
- You asked - Raul ans... 9:43pm 07 Feb 10
- Update from Cocla, P... 6:05pm 05 Feb 10
- Email: info@cafedirect.co.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)207 033 6000